Turbine engines are used as the primary power source for various kinds of aircraft. The engines may also serve as auxiliary power sources that drive air compressors, hydraulic pumps, and industrial electrical power generators. Most turbine engines generally follow the same basic power generation procedure. Compressed air is mixed with fuel and burned, and the expanding hot combustion gases are directed against stationary turbine vanes in the engine. The vanes turn the high velocity gas flow partially sideways to impinge onto turbine blades mounted on a rotatable turbine disk. The force of the impinging gas causes the turbine disk to spin at high speed. Jet propulsion engines use the power created by the rotating turbine disk to draw more air into the engine, and the high velocity combustion gas is passed out of the gas turbine aft end to create forward thrust. Turbine engines are also used to drive one or more propellers, electrical generators, or other devices.
Turbine engine blades and vanes are fabricated from high temperature materials such as nickel-based superalloys. Although nickel-based superalloys have good high temperature properties and many other advantages, they may be susceptible to corrosion, oxidation, thermal fatigue, and erosion damage in the harsh environment of an operating turbine engine. These limitations may be undesirable as there is a constant drive to increase engine operating temperatures in order to increase fuel efficiency and to reduce emission. Replacing damaged turbine engine components made from nickel-based superalloys may be relatively expensive. Hence, significant research is being performed to find cost-effective ways to improve the temperature properties of these components.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and materials for improving turbine engine components such as turbine blades and vanes. There is a particular need for environment-resistant materials that will improve a turbine component's durability. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.